Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The themes, institutions, and people of medical education research 1988–2010: content analysis of abstracts from six journals

  • Published:
Advances in Health Sciences Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study aimed at providing an overview of the most common themes of research into medical education. Changes in frequency of occurrence of these themes over time and differences between US and European journals were studied. The most productive institutions and researchers in the field were examined. A content analysis was carried out on 10,168 abstracts extracted from the six most influential journals in medical education published since 1988. Twenty-nine major themes were identified, of which student assessment, clinical and communication skills, clinical clerkships, and problem-based learning were the most prominent ones. Some of these themes, such as multiple-choice examinations or computer-assisted instruction seemed to have had their day, whereas other topics, such as the study of clinical clerkships, clinical reasoning, and scholarship in education were on their way up. Medical education research turned out to be a thoroughly international affair to which both US and European research centers contribute. The medical education literature shows an overwhelming emphasis on the preparation of medical students for professional practice. Moreover, the emphasis is very much on the individual student; most research seems to have been conducted with a psychological perspective in mind. It is argued that medical education research would profit from broadening its scope, including sociological, economical, ecological, and system perspectives. These perspectives might bring answers to new questions relevant to the quality of medical education. It is suggested that medical education is in need of moving beyond the conventional effectiveness-driven research approach to a more theory- and discovery-driven approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albanese, M. A. (2009). Life is tough for curriculum researchers. Medical Education, 43(3), 199–201. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03289.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albanese, M. A., & Mitchell, S. (1993). Problem-based learning: A review of literature on its outcomes and implementation issues. Academic Medicine, 68(1), 52–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albert, M., Hodges, B., & Regehr, G. (2006). Research in medical education: Balancing service and science. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 12(1), 103–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colliver, J. A. (2000). Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: Research and theory. Academic Medicine, 75(3), 259–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H., & Ponnamperuma, G. G. (2006). Medical education research at the crossroads. Lancet, 367(9508), 377–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dochy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 13(5), 533–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eva, K. W. (2009). Broadening the debate about quality in medical education research. Medical Education, 43(4), 294–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gijbels, D., Dochy, F., Van den Bossche, P., & Segers, M. (2005). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis from the angle of assessment. Review of Educational Research, 75(1), 27–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, E. (2004). The influence of the curriculum organization on study progress in higher education. Higher Education, 47(4), 411–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khoo, H. E. (2003). Implementation of problem-based learning in Asian medical schools and students’ perceptions of their experience. Medical Education, 37(5), 401–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakatos, I., & Musgrave, A. (1974). Criticism and the growth of knowledge. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. A. (1995). WordNet: A lexical database for English. Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, 38, 39–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regehr, G., MacRae, H., Reznick, R. K., & Szalay, D. (1998). Comparing the psychometric properties of checklists and global rating scales for assessing performance on an OSCE-format examination. Academic Medicine, 73(9), 993–997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, H. G., Cohen-Schotanus, J., Van der Molen, H. T., Splinter, T. A. W., Bulte, J. A., Holdrinet, R. S. G., et al. (2010). Learning more by being taught less: A “time-for-self-study” theory explaining curricular effects on graduation rate and study duration. Higher Education, 60(3), 287–300. doi:10.1007/s10734-009-9300-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SPSS. (2006). SPSS text analysis for surveys 2.0 user guide. Chicago: SPSS Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vleuten, C. (2000). Validity of final examinations in undergraduate medical training. British Medical Journal, 321(7270), 1217–1219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vernon, D. T. A., & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work—a metaanalysis of evaluative research. Academic Medicine, 68(7), 550–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, K. L., Williams, T. F., & Greenberg, B. G. (1961). The ecology of medical care. The New England Journal of Medicine, 265, 885–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wimmers, P. F., Schmidt, H. G., & Splinter, T. A. W. (2006). Influence of clerkship experiences on clinical competence. Medical Education, 40(5), 450–458. doi:10.1111/J.1365-2929.2006.02447.X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The help of Chin Pei Tan in the data analysis was appreciated. I would like to acknowledge the critical reading by G. R. Norman, K. A. Eva, and H. G. Schmidt of an earlier version of the article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jerome I. Rotgans.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rotgans, J.I. The themes, institutions, and people of medical education research 1988–2010: content analysis of abstracts from six journals. Adv in Health Sci Educ 17, 515–527 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9328-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9328-x

Keywords

Navigation